Thursday, October 29, 2015

Must Censor Speech, Say Most College Students

A recent survey proves the success of public education indoctrination of children against freedom of politically incorrect speech: A majority of college students across America believe that colleges should not permit faculty or students to speak freely because "hate speech" is against the law. One-third of respondents indicated they were NOT familiar with the First Amendment of the Constitution ("whatever THAT is!"), while others say it is "outdated."

. . . The William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale recently commissioned a survey from McLaughlin & Associates about attitudes towards free speech on campus. Some 800 students at a variety of colleges across the country were surveyed. The results, though not surprising, are nevertheless alarming. By a margin of 51 percent to 36 percent, students favor their school having speech codes to regulate speech for students and faculty. Sixty-three percent favor requiring professors to employ “trigger warnings” to alert students to material that might be discomfiting. One-third of the students polled could not identify the First Amendment as the part of the Constitution that dealt with free speech. Thirty-five percent said that the First Amendment does not protect “hate speech,” while 30 percent of self-identified liberal students say the First Amendment is outdated. . . .

The vast majority (95 percent) of students surveyed said that the issue of free speech is “important” to them, and 87 percent agree that listening to those with whom they disagree has educational value.

However, despite their strong support for free speech, a majority (51 percent) of students favor on-campus speech codes even though only one in 10 believes that colleges should regulate speech even more than they do now.

More than half (52 percent) of the students surveyed think that their college or university should forbid certain people with a history of “hate speech” from speaking on campus even though the same percentage also believes that the First Amendment does not make an exception for speech that some consider “hateful”.

And nearly three-quarters of student respondents (72 percent) favor disciplinary action for “any student or faculty member on campus who uses language that is considered racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise offensive.”

The survey also found that a whopping 63 percent of students support the use of “trigger warnings” by their professors in class. Triggers warnings are preemptive warnings given prior to some material (such as a discussion of racism) so that students can avoid being “triggered” and experiencing emotional trauma.

While a majority of respondents correctly said that the First Amendment protects hate speech just as it does other speech, a substantial 35 percent minority said otherwise, believing the First Amendment does nothing to protect hate speech. Some 21 percent of students even said the First Amendment is an “outdated” amendment that needs to be changed.

Unsurprisingly, there are differences among respondents based on their political leanings. Self-described liberals are three times as like (30 percent v. 10 percent) to describe the First Amendment as “outdated,” and 56 percent of them said their school newspaper should ban political cartoons that criticize certain religions and ethnic groups, while only 38 percent of conservatives felt the same way. Conservatives, though, are slightly more likely to support blocking speakers with a history of hate speech.

Dr. Ben Carson, currently running in second for the Republican presidential nomination, told NBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday that he supports a system under which the government would investigate allegations of "extreme bias" on college campuses.

"The way that works," Carson explained, "is you invite the students at the universities to send in their complaints. And then you investigate." He later added, "It's not a violation of the 1st Amendment, because all I'm saying is taxpayer funding should not be used for propaganda. It shouldn't be."

At the end of that part of his conversation with Todd, Carson explained why he thought this was so important.

"[Y]ou have to be able to look at things from both sides," he said. "You have to be able to evaluate things in a very clear way. And if you're just always looking at things from one point of view, I don't think you're well-educated."

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) reports at least 240 instances within the last decade where students and/or faculty made concerted efforts to block speakers because they thought their views objectionable.

Just last week, the invitation to conservative author Suzanne Venker to speak at Williams College in Massachusetts was rescinded by the student group that invited her because other students objected to her controversial views on feminism. . . .

The First Amendment Center’s Gene Policinski said the political correctness of college campuses is depriving students of a valuable part of their education. “Eliminating the serendipity of discovering other viewpoints or the intellectual challenge of confronting persuasive views that differ from our own drains both the meaning and value of free speech.”

Free speech has suffered a lot of setbacks in recent years. College campuses are setting up "free speech zones" that limit where students can express their opinions without the risk of offending their more thin-skinned classmates. Expressing an opinion online or telling a joke that's misinterpreted can actually get someone fired.

. . . almost any speech that anyone doesn't like can be brought for disciplinary action. Northwestern University professor Laura Kipnis learned that the hard way earlier this year when she was accused of violating the anti-discrimination law known as Title IX because she wrote an article critical of campus "paranoia."

The only way to stop the attacks on free speech is to stand up and refuse to be bullied. College campuses need to stop giving in to the most easily offended students, and organizations need to make clear that they will not stand down in face of adversity. Opinions that are merely unpopular (conservative students know this far too well) should not be shut down.